THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much for that warm welcome. I'm
feeling great, by the way. (Laughter.) And I'm glad I'm here. And
thank you all for coming.
We've just come from a discussion of community leaders all involved
with trying to make Cleveland a compassionate, decent place for every
citizen. Some were democrats, some were republicans -- all of them
Americans. (Applause.)
All of them Americans who understand that out of the evil done to
America can come some incredible good; that by loving a neighbor just
like you'd like to be loved yourself, you can do some good in our
country. You can fight evil by being a decent, honorable,
compassionate citizen. And that's what I want to talk about today. I
want to talk about the soul of America. (Applause.)
First, I appreciate my traveling party and the folks who showed up
here today. I want to thank Rod Paige, for being the Secretary of
Education. I like to remind people that when I was -- came time to
pick a Secretary of Education, that I wanted somebody who had actually
been on the front lines of education.
I didn't need a theorist, I needed somebody who was a practical
person, somebody -- and I knew Rod when I was the Governor of Texas and
he was the Superintendent of our state's largest school district,
Houston Independent School District. And our test scores soared when
he was leading that district.
And so I -- fortunately, he came to Washington, D.C. He's made a
huge sacrifice to be there, and he's doing a fine job. And I want to
appreciate Rod and I appreciate his leadership, I appreciate his being
a straightforward fellow. It's easy to understand where he's coming
from. He's coming from this perspective: every child must be educated
in America. Every child. (Applause.)
I also brought another man along with me, Alphonso Jackson, who is
the Deputy Secretary of HUD. Alphonso's job is to make sure we work
tirelessly to promote homeownership in America. And I appreciate
Alphonso coming. I'm going to talk a little bit about that later on.
(Applause.)
Of course, I appreciate so very much the elected officials who have
joined. My friend, the Governor of the great state of Ohio, Bob Taft,
is with us. (Applause.) Senior Senator, a fine friend and a good man,
George Voinovich, is with us. (Applause.) Are you the senior Senator?
He's the junior -- he's the oldest junior Senator. (Laughter.) He's a
junior Senator who happens to be a senior citizen, he said.
(Laughter.) But a young -- he thinks young. He's a great man.
I appreciate members of the congressional delegation, both
Republicans and Democrats alike -- Ralph Regula, Steve La Tourette,
Stephanie Tubbs Jones, and Dennis Kucinich. I appreciate you all
coming. (Applause.) Thanks for being here. I appreciate you're here.
I appreciate the Attorney General, Betty Montgomery, from the great
state of Ohio. (Applause.) I'm honored that the Mayor of the great
city of Cleveland would come, Mayor Campbell, thank you for being
here. I'm honored you're here. Appreciate you. (Applause.)
I had the honor of listening to a elected -- a local elected
official, Ms. Fannie Lewis, who had some things to say. (Applause.)
Thank you, Fannie, for coming.
Today, as I landed at the airport, I had the honor of meeting a
gentleman named Eugene Brudno. And Eugene is a Cleveland resident who
has spent a lot of time of volunteering in the community. The reason I
mention Eugene is, one of the true strengths of this country is the
fact that we've got so many citizens who have heard the call to help
somebody in need, and they don't need a government telling them to do
it. They just do it because they love their community.
And Gene has been loving his community for a long time. Gene,
would you stand up and please wave? Thank you for coming. (Applause.)
I want to thank Alex Machaskee for having sponsored the discussion
we had today. I want to thank the United Way leadership for being
here. I want to thank you all for coming. I am honored that you're
here. I've got some things to say -- it's really how great America --
I mean, what a fabulous country we have. We are lucky to be
Americans. (Applause.)
And as Americans, we have responsibilities. We have
responsibilities. If you live in this country and you want to be a
patriotic soul, you have a responsibility. And I think one of those
most important responsibilities is to help a neighbor in need. I do.
And I've got a responsibility, too. Perhaps my biggest
responsibility is to keep our homeland secure. I want to give you a
brief update about our attempts to keep the homeland secure. At home
we're doing everything we can do. I want to thank all those on the
front line, the first time -- the first responders, the police and fire
and EMS teams for being prepared and ready and working long hours.
In Washington, D.C., we've got a lot of good folks who are spending
a lot of time chasing down any hint or any lead, any idea that somebody
might have to hurt us. We're on it. And you just need to know we are
actively focusing our attention and efforts to keep the homeland
secure.
We're fighting an enemy that hates what we stand for. They don't
value human life. The death of innocent people doesn't bother them in
the least. They hijacked a great religion. They kill in the name of
the religion when, in fact, they're nothing but a bunch of cold-blooded
fanatics and killers. (Applause.)
I've asked the Congress to take all the agencies involved with the
homeland defense -- there's about a hundred of them scattered all over
Washington, D.C. -- you can imagine what that is like, trying to hold
somebody accountable.
I said, we should put it all under one umbrella, called the Cabinet
officer, and give us a chance to align authority and responsibility;
five us a chance to change the culture of these agencies; give us a
chance to say, protecting the homeland is now the single most important
priority of the federal government. And I appreciate the response from
both Republicans and Democrats alike to the initiative I laid out.
It's tough for some, I recognize that. I mean, there's some turf in
Washington. (Laughter.) And people like to protect the turf.
But by far most members understand that it's more important to
protect the American people than the turf. (Applause.) So we're
making progress at home. But the surest way to protect the homeland is
to hunt the killers down one by one and bring them to justice. And
that's what we're going to do. (Applause.)
And we're making progress. This isn't a -- the type of war we're
all used to. It's not the kind of war where there's tanks moving
across, you know, some plain, everybody gets to see the progress of the
tanks. This isn't the kind of war where planes are in formation.
This is a war that we fight against these shadowy terrorists that
hide in caves or hide in big cities and send young souls to their death
through suicide. That's the kind of people we're after. But we've
hauled in over 2,400 people so far. I say "we," I'm talking about not
only the United States, but a vast coalition of freedom-loving
countries. And so we're after them one by one. I guess the best way
to describe the strategy is to treat them for what they are,
international criminals; get them on the run, and when we find them,
bring them in, and get them.
And that's what this mighty country is going to do, because, you
see, we love our freedom. We stand for freedom. We love freedom of
religion. We love freedom of the press. We love to speak freely. We
love politics. We love what we're doing in this country. And anybody
who threatens our freedoms will face the ire of the mighty United
States of America. (Applause.)
And we're in this deal for the long haul. There is not a calendar
on my desk that says, by such and such a date we quit. That's not how
I think. And I don't believe that's how the American people think
either. The American people understand that we need to be patient and
resolved and determined to do what is right. History has called us
into action. And for the sake of our young, for the sake of our
children and our grandchildren, we must be strong enough and resolved
enough to defend freedom to the core; to not waver or tire in the face
of an enemy that hopes that we relinquish our love for freedom and the
values we hold dear in America.
You know, I can't imagine what was going through their mind when
they attacked us. They must have thought America was so materialistic
and so selfish and so self-absorbed that we might just file a lawsuit
or two. (Laughter.) They learned differently. They learned that we
love our country and love our freedoms. (Applause.)
But I want the youngsters here to understand this great country
doesn't seek revenge. We seek justice. And this great country, when
we go somewhere, we don't go as conquerors -- we go as liberators. I
want our country to keep in mind what happened in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan was a country that had been hijacked by these al Qaeda
killers, with a complacent government.
We said if you harbor a terrorist, you're just like the terrorist,
we're going to treat you just like the terrorist. And we upheld that
doctrine by removing the Taliban. But, more importantly, we liberated
people. For the first time, young girls go to school in Afghanistan,
thanks to the United States and our coalition. (Applause.)
And that's -- and that's going to be our posture for a long time
coming, too. We believe in freedom for all. We believe in the value
of individual life. We're a compassionate, strong nation; a nation
that through our determination will bring peace.
Oh, I know that in the midst of this war there is a lot of warlike
talk, and I'm as guilty as -- I'm guilty. (Laughter.) I talk that
way. But I want you to know, I love peace. I want the world to be at
peace. I believe out of the evil done to America can come some good.
And one of the goods is going to be a peaceful world. Peace in places
where we haven't seen peace in a long time. And peace at home for our
children and our grandchildren. I long -- I long for a peaceful world
for every citizen on the face of the globe. And I believe that the
United States can lead to peace if we're strong and resolved and
unified. (Applause.)
And I also believe that as we make the world more peaceful and
America more secure, we can make America a better place. A better
place for all of us. Not a better place for some; not a better place
for a few; but a better place for all.
I think that means that our government, federal government must be
active to promote self-government and self-reliance and independence.
It means that we must encourage individuals and communities and
families to take more responsibility for themselves and their neighbors
and our nation.
Our aim isn't to make government bigger by spending more money; our
aim isn't to focus on finance, large or small. Our aim must be to mean
that when we spend money, we spend it on what works to create a better
society. I call this compassionate conservatism. It is conservative
to trust the local folks to chart the path to excellence in education.
It's conservative to liberate parents. It's conservative to pass power
out of Washington, D.C. when it comes to public schools. It is
compassionate to make sure not one child gets left behind in America.
(Applause.)
It is conservative to promote private property, and ownership of
homes. It is compassionate to understand there is an ownership gap in
America, and we must use our resources to close that ownership gap by
encouraging minority ownership of homes in America. (Applause.)
It's conservative to reform welfare and reduce dependence on
government. It is compassionate to encourage work and family and
values of personal responsibility. It is conservative to understand
government can hand out money, but it cannot put hope in people's
hearts and, therefore, we should promote the good works of faith-based
and community-based programs. (Applause.)
It is compassionate to understand in the land of plenty there are
pockets of despair and hopelessness. There are people who, when you
say the American Dream, say, I don't know what that means. And it's
compassionate to understand all of us, no matter what your political
party is, must do something about it. We must work to make the
American Dream reach into every single neighborhood all across
America. (Applause.)
I believe that starts with making sure everybody gets a good
education. (Applause.) Rod talked about the "no child left behind"
legislation. Let me tell you what I think the bill says. I believe it
says that our society must believe every child can learn, and that
means we've set high standards. If you set low standards, guess what's
going to happen? If you have low expectations, you know what's going
to happen? We'll just give up on kids -- see?
It's so much harder to, by the way, educate inner-city -- some
inner-city children. It's easy to walk into a classroom full of
inner-city African Americans, for example, and say, you can't learn,
we'll move you through. Or how about classrooms full of children whose
parents don't speak English as a first language -- it's easy to quit on
those kids. Heck, it's hard to educate a child whose parents don't
speak English; why don't we just shuffle them through the system. That
means you have low hopes, low standards, low expectations. We start
with a different premise: Every child can learn, regardless of their
circumstances. And we expect every single child to learn in America.
(Applause.)
We said, yes, there's a role for funding, and we increased funding
for Title I programs here in Cleveland by 23 percent. And that's good
and that's important. We want to help the disadvantaged through
funding. But Washington shouldn't be telling Cleveland how to run its
school system. See, that's up to you all to figure out how to run your
school system. (Applause.)
But we've instituted a new reform, and it's an important reform.
It says, if you do receive the money, if you decide to take federal
money, show us whether or not the children are learning, see. Show us
whether or not expectations are being met. (Applause.)
I've heard it all -- we can't test, we test too much. We test too
much. We shouldn't test children whether they can read. See, all you
do is teach to test. Listen, if you can teach a child to read, they
can pass a test. You teach them to read, don't worry about the tests.
(Applause.)
We need to know in America whether or not our children can read and
write and add and subtract. That's what an accountability system is
for. Not only do we need to know, but more importantly, the parents
need to know whether or not the children can read and write and add and
subtract. (Applause.) And if we find they can't, something else has
to happen. We cannot allow our children to be trapped in schools that
won't teach and won't change. (Applause.)
Starting this September, as many as 3.5 million students across
America who attend failing schools will have different options, of
transferring to another public school. It's part of being an
accountable society. It's part of strengthening public education.
Listen, I think public education is one of the most important parts
of democracy. In order to make sure the American Dream reaches every
neighborhood, we've got to have good public schools all across
America. We must. (Applause.) So we've got to strengthen the public
education system, by encouraging different opportunities if there's
failure.
Low income students, as a result of the new bill, in chronically
failing schools will now have access to after-school tutoring. The
money follows the child and the parent can decide who provides the
after-school tutoring. (Applause.)
There is not a single avenue to success. In order to achieve
educational excellence for every child there's got to be a multiplicity
of approaches. That's why I believe so strongly in local control of
schools. The people of Cleveland and the state of Ohio decided that
one of the approaches they wanted to take was to encourage a voucher
system to be implemented. That was a local decision. And the Supreme
Court of the United States gave a great victory to parents and students
throughout the nation by upholding the decisions made by local folks
here in the city of Cleveland, Ohio. (Applause.)
It is a constructive approach to improving public education. We're
interested in aiming toward excellence for every child. And the
voucher system is a part of the strategy to achieve that here in
Cleveland. One of my jobs is to make sure that we continue to insist
upon reform, to take this court decision and encourage others to make
the same decision at the local level. One way to do so is through tax
credits, which is now in my budget. I urge Congress, when we debate
how to improve public education, to pass the tax credit so parents will
have more flexibility and more choices when it comes to the education
of their children, particularly K through 12. (Applause.)
I also -- the Supreme Court in 1954 declared that our nation cannot
have two education systems. And that was the right decision. Can't
have two systems, one for African Americans and one for whites. Last
week, what's notable and important is that the Court declared that our
nation will not accept one education system for those who can afford to
send their children to a school of their choice and for those who
can't. And that's just as historic. (Applause.)
I think by continuing to focus on high standards and results and
local control of schools, we can all work together to make sure no
child is left behind.
And by the way, I had the honor of meeting Roberta Kitchen today.
She should be giving the speech, not me. Where's Roberta? Hi,
Roberta. Roberta is a mom of five children, and her passion is a
passion which is shared by moms all across America. Her passion is
pretty simple: I want my children to go to a safe school where he or
she can realize their full potential. Roberta, thank you for your love
for your children. (Applause.) I appreciate you.
We also have got to do a better job of bringing the American Dream
to all Americans by encouraging home ownership. There is a -- we've
got a home ownership gap in America, let's face it. Over 75 percent of
white Americans own their home, and less than 50 percent of Hispanos
and African Americans don't own their home. And that's a gap, that's a
homeownership gap. And we've got to do something about it.
One of the barriers to homeownership is the cost of down payment.
And I'm working with Congress right now to have a down payment
assistance program to help the homeowner be able to afford the down
payment.
I also believe that a barrier to entry is education. There's a lot
of folks who when they look at the fine print in the contract, don't
quite understand what it means. Not only do we need to simplify the
contracts, we've got to make sure that there's an outreach program to
educate first time home buyers on what it means to own a home and how
you do it. Not to get nervous about the fine print, but to realize
what's in the fine print so that the people can make good decisions.
We've got money in the budget to do that. We want to work with the
faith-based community to encourage the education of people to
understand what it means to own a home.
I'm also working with the private sector to make sure they do their
part. It's in the national realtors interests, or the National
homebuilders interests that we encourage minority ownership of homes.
We're trying to increase the demand for homes. One way to do that is
to work with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to encourage capital, so that
there's more money in the private sector for first time home buyers.
We need billions of more dollars available for those who want to
realize the dream. They have made the commitment to do so.
And, finally, we need legislation, tax credit legislation that will
increase the supply of homes, affordable homes all across the country,
affordable homes in inner-city Cleveland, where people are able to find
a home and realize their dreams. (Applause.)
The goal for this country is that by 2010 we have 5.5 million new
minority homeowners. And when that happens -- you watch what happens
when these neighborhoods will become revitalized, it'll help the public
school systems, it'll create such a sense of hope. This is a noble
goal and one that I fervently believe we can achieve and must achieve
to make America a better place. (Applause.)
We've got work to do. The Senate has got work to do, in passing a
reauthorization of the welfare reform bill. One of the great success
stories in recent past has been to reform welfare so as we reduce
dependency upon government. And that's important. See, we believe in
the worth of each individual and believe if we help people they can
realize their full potential.
And it starts with finding work. It starts with a job. If
somebody works, they're more likely to be able to realize dreams, to
realize their God-given potential. And so we've got to continue to
employ the resources and the vision to helping people find work. I
believe work ought to be an incredibly important part, ought to be the
standard by which welfare reform has been judged. And our society must
work with local folks to implement strategies that will help people
find work.
Listen, the government is willing to pay for re-education. The
government is willing to pay for job training. But we need people at
the local people, just right like you do out here in Cleveland, to take
the hand of somebody in need and say, how can we help you? How can we
help you realize the independence of finding -- and the dignity, by the
way -- of finding work?
I want to thank the employers in Cleveland for showing
responsibility by helping on the welfare to work initiative. And I
want to thank the faith-based programs for taking the resources
available and to help people find work. We've got to continue --
we've got to continue -- to promote work as part of a independent --
independent -- to encourage independence. And at the same we do so,
we've got to teach people the values of marriage and family.
(Applause.)
And speaking about responsible society, one of the key things we've
got to do here in America is make sure that all of us are responsible
for the decisions we make -- especially in this day and age, the CEOs
of corporate America. (Applause.) We need to make sure that when the
people put out their balance sheets, when people put out the facts and
figures, there's no question about their veracity. There's no question
that there true numbers.
You see, in order to keep the job base increasing in America, there
must be trust. And some have violated the trust. They haven't assumed
their responsibility. I expect there to be responsibility at all
levels in our society. And I intend to fully enforce the law when
people cheat on the balance sheets of corporate America. (Applause.)
We laid out an initiative in March to provide better information to
investors, to make corporate officers accountable and responsible; to
make sure that there's an independent auditing system -- make sure this
business about conflict of interest is eradicated. We need to rebuild
the confidence in our job-creating system.
Now, you need to know that by far the vast majority -- by far -- of
corporate America are above-board and doing their jobs just the way
you'd expect them to do, that they treat their investors, their
shareholders and employees the way you'd want them to. And that's
important for America to know. It's also important to know we're going
after those who aren't and hold them accountable. (Applause.)
Our economy, the foundation of our economy is strong. We've got
good fiscal policy, good monetary policy. We just now got to get this
-- get trust built back in the country's leadership -- which we will;
we will. And one way to do it is to bring some of these folks to
justice who have violated their trust. And we'll do that, too.
I also want you to know that my philosophy really does trust the
American people. I trust people when it comes to -- the parents when
it comes to educating their children. I trust people when it comes to
making right decisions about whether to own a home. I trust people
when it comes to helping find work. the strength of this country is
really not in our halls of government, it's in the hearts and souls of
the American people. That's really why America is so strong a nation
as we are today.
I also believe that -- in the power of faith in people's lives.
And that when we find people who have lost hope, maybe as a result of
addiction or despair, that one way to help change America is to
encourage those who have heard the call to love a neighbor to go love
their fellow citizen.
See, I've got great faith in America because I know our society can
change one heart, one person at a time. And I know there are millions
of soldiers in the armies of compassion who are willing to do just
that. The faith-based initiative that you've probably read about means
this. Our government should not fear programs which exist because of a
church or a synagogue or a mosque has decided to start one.
(Applause.) We should not discriminate against programs based upon
faith in America. We should enable them to access federal money,
because faith-based programs can change peoples lives, and America will
be better off for it. (Applause.)
I urge the Congress to get the bill on by desk that does two things
-- one, allows for faith-based programs to compete for taxpayers' money
to help change people's lives; and secondly, allows non-itemizers to
receive a deduction on their income taxes when they give money to a
charity. We need to do everything we can to encourage the strength of
America to help change America for the better. (Applause.)
Now, out of the evil done to America is going to come some
incredible good here. I believe it. I believe that our citizens, many
citizens are now hearing the call that a true patriot is somebody who
serves something greater than themselves. A true patriot is somebody
who asks a neighbor in need, what can I do to help. A patriot is
somebody who understands that life is more -- that life is complete
when you make a sacrifice for somebody else.
That certainly came home to a lot of Americans when Flight 93 was
driven into the ground by citizens -- normal, everyday citizens -- who
realized the plane they were on would be a weapon. And I want to
remind you of what happened on that flight. They told their loved ones
good-bye, they said a prayer, and they made the ultimate sacrifice for
somebody else. That's the American spirit, as far as I'm concerned --
the notion that in order -- (applause.) And it is that spirit which is
exhibited every day in our country when people say, I think I want to
mentor a child, and do so. And people helping an elderly shut-in.
When people deliver food.
It's the millions of acts of kindness and decency which define
America, which show the true face of this great country. And I mean a
great country.
It's a great honor to be the President of the greatest nation on
the face of the Earth. Thank you for coming today, and God bless.
(Applause.)